The Toph Method
by avatarfreak14
Summary: Zutara month 2012. Separate. Toph forces Zuko and Katara to confront each other after their elusive break up.


**The Toph Method **

Zutara month: Separate

Toph stood sullenly in the elaborate room. To everyone else, it was gorgeous and breath taking. An architectural icon. To Toph, however, the room was just more rocks than necessary. Aang had gushed about the palace's magnificence the whole journey there and Toph, for once not wanting to dampen her boyfriend's mood, had feigned interest. Toph heard Sokka raving on about his magnificent sword from across the room and rolled her blind eyes. But despite her annoyance, she revealed a small smile. It may have been eight years since the end of the war, but she was pleased to know that not all of them had changed.

She sensed someone coming up beside her.  
"How're you enjoying the festivities?" Aang asked, slinging an arm across her shoulders and kissing her cheek. Toph grinned and looped her own arm around his waist.  
"Well the food's a bit dry and the place isn't much to look at." Toph joked and Aang laughed. Aang's heartbeat rate suddenly increased erratically.  
"Uh oh, I think Sokka's had one too many Cactus Juice. He's about to chop a noble's head off with his sword!" Now Toph laughed and Aang gave her a quick kiss before departing in Sokka's direction.

Toph stood by herself in the corner. She wasn't intent on making small talk with people who pretended to be interested in each other's lives, which was more than she could say about her two friends. She could hear Katara and Zuko at the opposite ends of the room.

Toph sighed. She remembered five years ago when Katara and Zuko were the world's happiest couple. They'd been disgustingly and constantly all over each other, and although Toph had found it to be extremely annoying she'd also been a bit envious of their seemingly perfect relationship before she and Aang had gotten together. But a year ago, they'd broken up. None of them had known what happened because both Zuko and Katara had become elusive and very guarded upon being questioned. Unfortunately, the end of their relationship had also brought the end of their friendship. Since the break up, both Zuko and Katara had refused to be in the same nation let alone the same room.

But on this very occasion, on this very night, neither of them had a choice. Every year, the Earth King organised a celebration party in the GAang's honour, as an anniversary of the end of the hundred-year war. Since the previous year, with the result of their break up, Katara and Zuko had both been keen to avoid one another. Whenever invited to visit one of their friends, they made sure to come on a different day than the other. Toph had no idea what had happened to cause them to break up, but with the way things were going, she knew it must've been bad.

So that was how Zuko and Katara had ended up. Not even able to look one another in the eye, not able to even acknowledge the other's presence in the world. Before, they'd been inseparable, now they were… Separate.

Toph suddenly exposed a small, mischievous smile as a plan formed in her mind. She could fix this.

Toph heard Katara chattering away to her left, and walked towards her. She grabbed the Waterbender's arm and roughly pulled her aside.  
"Katara," She murmured quietly. "I need your help! I sort of have a… girl problem." Toph winced as she said the embarrassing sentence, the plan had better work. But Katara, being Katara, nodded seriously and offered her help immediately.  
"Oh! Okay, no problem. Of course I'll help." Toph inwardly smirked.  
"Great!" She replied, and sensed a nearby empty room, dragging Katara towards the room, she said: "Let's go in here." Upon arriving to the room, Toph froze.  
"Oh no! I forgot something!" She said a bit dramatically. "Wait in here. I'll be right back."

Walking around, Toph heard Zuko's husky and formal voice. Rushing to the Fire Lord, she interrupted his conversation with a young woman.  
"Zuko! I have important and valuable information to give you!" She exclaimed feigning urgency. Zuko immediately pulled her aside and excused himself.  
"What is it?" He enquired.  
"It's too crowded here! There's an empty room over there. Let's go." Toph informed him, and began to make her way to the room where Katara waited. Zuko suddenly caught her arm.  
"How would you know something no one else did?" He asked suspiciously.  
"My feet see everything." She said simply, and Zuko, accepting her answer, followed her.

Zuko followed her into the room, and before he had time to register Katara, Toph slammed the door shut and stood directly in front of it.

"What the-!?"  
"Zuko?!"  
"Katara what're you-!?  
"TOPH!"  
Toph grinned despite herself, but quickly regained her composure.  
"Since the two of you broke it off, you've never even addressed each other! I know it must have been awkward but I thought the two of you would've been more mature about it! And haven't you ever thought that it might have been weird for the rest of us?" She explained bluntly. "Now, talk it out."

"Open the door Toph!" Zuko commanded heatedly.

"Nope. You'll have to make me." She replied smugly.  
"Oh, I will!" He promised, taking a step forward.  
"No you won't." Toph disagreed, digging her feet deeper into the earth beneath her. "You burn the door down, you burn me. I'm not moving out of the way." Zuko growled, realising he was stuck.

Katara tried a more polite approach.  
"Toph, I appreciate what you're trying to do here. But Zuko and I aren't getting back together and-."  
" Of course _you'd_ be the one calling the shots regarding our relationship." Zuko murmured quietly, cutting her off. Toph sensed Katara's heartbeat quicken as she adjusted her position to face Zuko.  
"What's that supposed to mean?" She demanded.

"Nothing." Zuko answered softly.  
"No, I want to know." Katara urged. Suddenly, Toph felt Zuko's breathing accelerate and the heat that came off of him. He was angry.  
"You're the one who decided we were over!"

"Zuko, I-." She began, her bravado gone.  
No!" Zuko interjected. "I don't want to hear it Katara. You left! You left me and you didn't leave me anything! Not a note or an explanation and I don't want to hear it now! You made me look like a fool! "

For once, Toph was glad that she couldn't see Zuko's face, the ferocity in his voice was scary enough as it was and she could imagine the anger contorted into his features if she could see him.  
"It wasn't like that!" Katara snapped, desperately trying to defend herself.

"Wasn't it?" Zuko asked rhetorically. "What? You weren't happy? You could've told me!"  
"No Zuko! I was happy! I can't tell you how much." Now Toph was confused. If she was happy why did she leave? She abruptly realised the absurdity of her situation. She was listening in on a very private moment, but both of the two that were arguing seemed to forget that she was there at all.

"Then why did you leave?" Zuko asked, clearly as bewildered as Toph was. Katara sighed and there was a moment of silence.  
"I left because it was the best thing to do for you." She finally clarified. This time, Toph couldn't keep quiet.  
"What? How does that make any sense? Why would that be the best thing?" She claimed, even though it wasn't her place to speak.  
"Exactly what Toph said." Zuko agreed, making Toph feel less of an eavesdropper. "If we were both happy why would leaving be the best thing for me?"

Again, Katara remained silent for a bit. Toph predicted that she was choosing her next words carefully. She felt Zuko's heartbeat quicken in anticipation of Katara's answer.  
"Remember how your people reacted when we first started seeing each other?" Katara began. "They weren't happy about you seeing a 'Water Tribe Peasant'."

"They came to love you when they saw what you were like, Katara." Zuko protested.  
"They only tolerated me because they thought our relationship was temporary! We both know that Zuko." She argued, rendering Zuko into silence as she continued. "Then you started talking about marriage and I was thrilled. But I realised that all Fire Nation citizens would object, that they simply wouldn't take it and things were going so well during your reign… I didn't want to ruin that."

Another brief silence occurred before Zuko spoke.  
"You thought I didn't know how people would react?" He said. "I knew what I was getting into. I just didn't care what people thought."  
"It wasn't about what you thought, it was about what would happen to you as Fire Lord, I didn't want you to lose your people's respect."  
"Katara, people aren't as prejudice as they were during the war. Maybe, they would've been a bit angry or upset, but I know my people, sooner or later they'd accept you and get over it. And even if by any chance they didn't, I wouldn't care." Toph suspected that Katara didn't know how to reply, because even after a long time, she didn't answer.

"What I want to know," Zuko started again. "Is why you didn't leave a note."  
"If I'd left a note, you might've had motivation to come find me. And you did and you asked me to stay, I would have."

Now everyone was silent. Toph didn't know how she felt now that she knew the reason for Katara and Zuko's break up. Sure, she had been curious but she'd much rather have known if the explanation had been told in the form of a story rather than a raw and heated argument.

"I was so stupid." Katara said, and from the catch in her voice, Toph could tell that she was crying. "I'm so sorry, Zuko. I ruined everything. I was so cruel, leaving you like that and for nothing. I should've spoken with you." Toph was expecting Zuko to react with anger or with resentment. Instead, he merely said:

"You didn't leave with cruel intentions."

Toph sensed that one or both of them wanted to say something regarding their relationship but didn't know where to start.

"So what now?" Toph asked, giving Katara the stepping-stone she needed.

"It was my fault that we broke up," she said. "But I swear to you, Zuko, nothing like that will ever happen again I promise. If you want to, I'd like to try again. I still love you." At this, Toph felt Zuko's heart rate go through the roof and she grinned. It appeared he still held feelings for Katara as well.  
"I do too," He admitted, a smile in his voice. "and I want to try again."

Toph felt Zuko walk towards Katara and knew that they were embracing.

'Luckily I can't see or this would be really awkward.' She thought sarcastically.

Straight after this thought, Toph heard some weird sounds. Kissing sounds.

"I'm thrilled the two are you back together." Toph said dryly. "Especially that it's because of me, but could you two control yourselves until I'm not here." Instantly the couple broke off their kiss and pestered Toph with embarrassed apologies. Toph laughed.  
"Let's join everyone else now so that they can see the happy couple" she said. "I think we've been in here long enough." As she made her way out, she felt a hand close on her shoulder. Katara.  
"Thank you, Toph." She said gratefully.  
"Yeah," Zuko agreed. "if there's anything I can do as Fire Lord to repay you let me know."

Toph grinned mischievously. A favour from the Fire Lord? That could come in handy.

"I'll think of something."


End file.
